Apparatus for the manufacture of gas



(No Model.) y 3 sh eet ssheet 1. S. T. WELLMAN 8v G. W. GOETZ. APPARATUS FOR THE MANUPAGTURB 0F GAS.

No. 376.835. Patented Jan. 24, 1888.

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, UNITED STATES lPATENI. 'OrEIoE.;` y

SAMUEL r. WELLMAN AND GEORGE W. GoETz, or CLEVELAND,-V OHIO,

AsSIGNoRs To THE FUEL GAS AND-ELECTRIC ENGINEERING COMPANY, (LIMITEn) on PITTSBUEG; PENNSYLVANIA. f A f APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFA-CTURE OF (3A-S.,`

SPECIPICATIQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 376.835, dated January 24, 188s.

Application filedgFebruary 24, 1887. Serial No.`228,672. (No model.)`

To al? whom it may cozrwern.'`

Be it known that we, SAMUEL T. WELLMA Y and GEORGEW. GOETZ, residing at Cleveland,

in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio,

citizens of the United States, have invented or discovered certain new and useful Improvements 1n Apparatus for the Manufacture of Gas, of which improvements the following is a specification; I

In the accompanying drawings, which make part of this specification, Figure l 'is a sec-v tional elevation of agas-'producerfor carrying out our improved method.` Fig. 2 is a seotiQnal view on the line .fr x, Fig. l. Fig. 3 is r 5 a plan view of a modified form of construction of the plant: .Fig 4 is a vertical section on the line y y, Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a vertical section of the conduit on the line z z, Fig.'3.

Fig. 6 is a view in side elevation of the stack, 2o o ne of the superheaters ybeing shown in sec- Y bi0n. Fig. 7 is a Vertical sectional View on the line w w, Fig. 3. Fig. 8 is a transverse sectional View of one of the superheaters.

Producer gas is at. present manufactured by 2 5 charging a suitable shaft with a sufficient quantity of coal, 'which is ignited and burns principally at or near thel supporting-grams, producing, among other gases, a large volume of carbonio-acid gas,which, passing up through 3o the superincumbent incandescent coal, is reduced to carbonio oxide. 'Ihe resulting gases which escapel from theproducer contain approximately twenty to twenty-six per cent. of carbonio oxide, two to four per cent. of hydrogen, one to three per cent. of hydrocarbons,y and sixty-seven to seventy-seven per cent. Vof

nitrogenand other non-combustible gases.

It will be readily understood that While producer gas can be cheaply and economically 40 manufactured it is commerciallyimpracticable to utilize such gas for distribution through towns 0r cities for heating purposes on account of the large percentage of useless gases which f must be carried in the pipes. Inasmuch as in the above-mentioned method more heat is generatedin the producer or stack than is required for'the maintenance of incandescent coal necessary for the reduction of the steam the latter is out off and air is forced through they coaluntil it is again highly n heated.` These alternations of theY air vand I steam result not only in the production of a poorer quality of gas, but also ina compara. tively slow `production or'formation of gases.r`

The object of the invention herein is to in crease the volumeV of combustible gases "gen-`l erated in a converter for a given amount of.:

coal without correspondingly or even materially increasing the volume of non-combustible gases," andwithout materially increasing/the cost of production; and it is a further object of said invention to utilize the now wasted* heat of the gases for facilitating the gas-generating operations.

VTo these ends the invention consists, in general terms, in the'method and apparatus as f more'fully hereinafter described and claimed.

In the practice of our invention'invits sim- 75 plest form, the stack l, which-is of the form f or construction usualeinv gas-producers, and is i provided with the customary grate-bars, 2, ashpit, 3, charging chute, @and exitfine, 5, is.. charged with a suitable amount of fooal,a tire having rst been started'on the gratos. As the combustion proceeds, large volumes of gases are formed,composedprincipally'ofcar# bonic-acid gas, which, as it passes up through the superincumbent'mass of incandescent coal, soon loses a part of its oxygen and is con--v`- verted into carbonio oxide. This carbonio oxide, together withother gases produced in the stack, pass in a highly-heated condition out through the flue 5, down through the v ertical flue 6, and thence by/the horizontal passage 7 to the conduit 8.] In order to utilize the heat of thesegases, a series, of U-shaped4 tubes, 9, is arranged in the vertical flue 6,`- saidy tubes being 'connected atone end to a pipe, 10, :leading into the ash-pit funder the stack. The opposite ends of these tubes 9` are connected to a pipe, 11, leading outside of the flue 6, and having a bell-mouthed nozzle, 12, in its outer end. In this bell-mouthed nozzle is arranged the end of a steam-pipe, 13, leading from any suitable source of steamsupply. After the charge in thestack has become incandescent the doors 14 in the ash-pit 3 are closed, and the valve in the steam-pipe 13 is opened, thereby allowing steam to rush into the pipe 11, drawing with it air through the bell-mouthed nozzle 12. The current of mingled steam and air passes from the pipe 11 into and through the tubes 9, which are highly heated by the gases from the stack and from the tubes 9, into the ash-pit, and thence through the incandescent mass of coal. As the steam passes through the incandescent material, it is decomposed and forms, in connection with the other gases, carbonio oxide and hydrogen. The volume of gas thus produced is increased in proportion to the amount of steam used, and as nearly the entire increased production is combustible the percentage of nitrogen in the whole amount produced is correspondingly decreased. As the steam and air are, in the usual practice above referred to, admitted into the producer at normal temperatures, there must of necessity be a considerable sacrifice of heat in raising thel air and steam to the proper temperatures for the'production of gas; but by highly superheating the air and steam,by means of the tubes which are heat-ed by the escaping gases,a more rapid formation of gas is obtained, and a reduced degree of cooling action is exerted by the steam upon the incandescent coal; hence a larger quantity of steam can be used, thereby increasing the volume of combustible gases. By properly proportioning the amount of air and steam admitted the production of the two gases-i. e., that obtained from the passage of air and that by the passage of steam through' the incandescent coal-can be made continu` ous, thereby avoiding the alternations above referred to and the consequent cooling and heating of the coal.

When it is desired to produce large volumes of gas, and it is therefore necessary to use correspondingly large quantities of air and steam, the apparatus shownV in Figs. 1 and 2 will not afford sufficient facilities for highly heating the air and steam. Therefore, in lieu of the single superheater,77 as we term the verticalilue 6,with the tubes contained there in, two lues or superheaters, 6 and 6, are provided, as shown in Figs. 3 to 8, inclusive, said superheaters being connected to the exitlue 5 by the branch flue 15, provided on opposite sides of the flue 5 with regulatingvalves 16 and 17, whereby either of the superheaters may be cut ofi from communication with the ilue 5 and the producer. These flues or Vsuperheaters 6 and 6are built of rebrick or other refractory material, and are provided with a number of comparatively small passages, 18, extending the entire length thereof, the walls of said passages forming a large heating-surface.

In lieu of the continuous passages 18, the ilues or super-heaters may be filled with a checker-work of brick, or any other suitable construction, whereby a large superficial area in the superheaters may be provided. These ilues or superheaters 6 and 6 communicate at their lower ends with the main gasconduit 8 by passages 7 and 7, as clearly shown in Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6, said passages being provided with valves 19 and 20 for governing admission of the gases into the conduit. Between the superheaters is arranged a chest or box, 21, having pipes 22 and 23 at their ends, said pipes leading, respectively, into the lower ends of the superheaters, as shown in Figs. 3 and 7. On the box or chest 2l is placed the bell-mouthed nozzle 12, in which is arranged the steam-pipe 13, as above described. In order that the steam and air forced into the box 21 may be directed into either of the superheaters, as desired, valves 24 and 25 are provided for opening and closing the pipes 22 and 23. Into the upper ends of the superheaters are inserted pipes 26 and 27, connecting at their lower ends with the pipe 28, which in turn communicates by the pipe 10 with the ash-pit of the producer or stack. The pipes 26 and 27 are provided with suitable valves,30 and 31,for governing the flow of superheated air and steam from the upper ends of the superheaters.

Vhile the valves are adjusted as shown in Figs. 3 to 8, the operation of the plant is as follows: The steam and air pass from the chest 21, through the pipe 23, into the superheater 6a), and during their passage through the passages 18 of said superheater are highly heated.

From the upper end of the superheater 6 the now highly-heated steam and air pass, by the pipes 27 28, and10, into the ash-pit 3, thence up through the stack 1, where the steam and air, coming into contact with the incandescent material and the gases therefrom, are converted, as above stated. The gases produced in the stack escape by the ilue 5 into the transverse lue 15, whence they pass into the superheater 6 down its passages 18, highly heating the walls thereof, and thence by the flue 7 into the conduit 8. As soon as the walls of the passages 18 in the su perheater 6fL have been cooled down to such a degree as to be no longer effective in superheating the steam and air, the valves 25, 31, 16, and 19 are closed and the corresponding valves 24E, 30, 17, and 20 are opened, thereby reversing the operation of the plant, the steam and air being directed through the superheater 6 to the stack, and the gases from the stack through the superheater 6fL and ue 7a into the conduit 8.

We claim herein as our invention- In a plant for the production of gas, the combination of a stack or producer, flues governed by Valves and leading from the stack IIO 376,835 ,j i 's to a. distributing-conduii each ofsaiid iues` In testimony whereof We have hereuntol seb being provided with@ series of heating-pasour` hands.

sages, pipes governed by iregulatin'g-valves` n and leading from said heating-passages to the 5 ash-pit of the stack, a box or chest havingV vaived connections With the ues, and an in- Witnesses: jector for forcing mingled steam andy air into THOS. Hl BROOKS,

said box or chest', substantiaily as Set forth. i Y WV. H. SHEPARD. 

